Monday, February 7, 2011

(scroll down to see 14 days of valentine)
i started with a dark laundry room.

it worked at the time because the rest of the house was painted in similar tones

i knew i wanted something lighter and brighter.
i didn't get a picture of the light fixture but can you say "builder's grade crap???" that, paired with the dark paint on the walls really made it depressing to do laundry.
and i like to do laundry.

sooooo, i knew needed to do this on the cheap or hubby was going to have a cow...

i had a gallon of oops paint ($5.00, yup, five dollars) that was a very light cream. i knew i wanted a nice aqua/turquoise theme.

since home depot does not re-tint oops paint, i had to get creative. i bought a tester paint in the darkest turquoise i could have tinted and mixed it myself. it was a really green turquoise so i added some dark blue craft paint that i already had in the house, mixed it in and got the tone i wanted but it was still too dark. so i foraged around in the basement and i found a can of white paint
and added some of that to lighten and brighten it up.

it took a lot of mixing and trying out on the wall, but i finally had the right recipe for the paint.

i had don move a light fixture from another room to the laundry,

isn't she pretty? much brighter than the old builders grade crap.

i took some pictures of the blue mason jars that i love, printed them off and made some artwork for the room.

i framed them in a frame that i painted a while back but never used...

i added a shelf that i had in the basement (free, score!) to hold some pretty accessories.

i decided to add a board and batten ($20.00 for the wood) effect to the garage wall so i could hang hooks for keys, bags and purses. i followed kate's instructions here at censational girl and couldn't believe how easy it really was. masking tape helped hold the boards in place while i measured the spacing of the boards.

i found hooks at hobby lobby and spray painted them with an oil rubbed bronze finish for some contrast.

there is a bulletin board on the opposite wall. i'm not sure what i'm going to do with that yet, the wall just needed something...

sigh, i love it....

nice and fresh and clean....

and it makes doing laundry so much nicer.

i added the faux roman shade that i made....

i really love how it turned out,

but the reality of the room is that it is a pass through from the garage into the house to the kitchen. it is a very small room, about 8' x 6' so there isn't really room to have a proper mud room.

it has to serve duty as a coat closet,

a place for a laundry hamper

a home for my purse and keys and shoe/boot storage...
and because we enter from the garage, i really can't put a pretty/light colored rug in here, so the old one will have to stay.

so my pretty room has to do triple duty.

but it is so much better to be in than it was before.

edited to add: the tutorial for the faux fixed roman shade from kate at centsational girl is here.

instead of attaching the non-working shade directly to the wall as she did, i screwed tiny i-screws into the top and hung the shade from cup hooks screwed into the ceiling.the light fixture from lowesherewas spray painted with heirloom white paint. the glass bowl of the fixture was an icky yellow color. while i was washing the bowl, i noticed that the yellow was peeling off. i used a steel wool pad to remove the yellow coloring which just seemed to be some kind of coating. unfortunately, i was like a mad scientist in the lab with how i mixed up the paint using what i had on hand, and i will go to home depot in the next few days to see if i can color match with what they have.

****2/17/11****okay, so here is the scoop on the paint color......i went to home depot and had them color match the paint splashed paper covering of the paint can with their computer. this is what the computer printed out...

i then went over to the paint cards and this is the closest that i could com to the color. the raggedy little piece of paper is the actual paint from the paint can label. because i used behr paint, the computer sticker is just based on behr paint. the paint guy told me that the formula would be different for different brands of paint.

if anyone is interested, i can go back and have them color match with the computer for the martha stewart or glidden paint as well.

the americana craft pain in spa blue (DA277) was a pretty close match too, however, when i looked it up on the website, the color was nowhere near what it looked like in real life. i got the americana craft paint at hobby lobby.

*****roman shade fabric update*****i went back to jo-ann fabrics to see if i could find out any information regarding the fabric. unfortunately, there was no identifying information on the fabric itself. the cardboard that the fabric was wrapped in stated that it was vff outdoor fabric with a sku # of 961-7317. it was $6.00 a yard but this was a clearance price.****sorry, there was no other information****

total cost of the redo?
less than $50.00, and that includes paint, wood for the board and batten, fabric for the roman shade and hooks for the wall. everything else was repurposed, material on hand and decor that i shopped for in other rooms in the house.
and
i did it all myself (other than don helping with the nail gun, which i'm ashamed to say, scared the crap out of me) and helping hold the shelf while i screwed the brackets into place.
i think i did alright.....

Okay, if it is possible to LOVE a laundry room, then I definitely LOVE yours! It turned out really lovely! love every detail you did and doing it for such a great price! You should be quite proud of yourself. I know I am!

Don't you just smile every time you go to do some laundry. I just redid mine and can't even believe how I am always caught up on laundry. I like your idea of mixing your own paint. I'm going to have to try that.

Your laundry room is tiny like mine and I think your makeover is fantastic. My two favorites are the photos turned art and the wall with the batten boards and hooks. The whole room just makes you want to do laundry just to be in there. Hop over to my blog for my pillow giveaway.

Aww, YEAH! Beautiful. My upstairs bathroom was that color. Hubs never liked it. When we remodeled the shower, I painted it a deep gold. He loves it, I'm...meh.Also, I have that same chandelier which I spray painted gold, but I love your white treatment. So glad to find out I can scrub away that dirty yellow of the bowl. I am SO painting mine white!Cathy

I'm in love with your laundry room makeover. I am about to start my mudroom/laundry room makeover as well and am doing Kate's board and batten treatment too. I'm so glad to hear that it's going to be easy. I saw your room featured on Finding Fabulous...and it really is a fabulous transformation. I am your latest follower. I would love for you to come and check out my blog and follow me back. Thanks so much.

I came by way of Jane at finding Fabulous. I just had to come over to tell you how much I love your laundry room makeover! It is fabulous! I am so glad you took the time to have the paint matched because I absolutely love the color. I too felt like a mad scientist when I created the color for the bay window alcove in my kitchen and for my guest bathroom. I still need to take paint samples from each and have it matched for me. I also really like the mason jar photos you took and framed. I am so jealous of all the mud rooms / laundry rooms that have the chandeliers hanging in them. The ceiling in mine is too low for one. Would you mind telling me where you found the fabric and the name of the pattern you used for your shade? My home is done in varying shades of turquoise and brown and that pattern would be perfect in my guest room.

I am so glad you stopped by and linked up this awesome post to my party. I am planning on starting my mudroom renovation tomorrow. I noticed that it doesn't look like you changed out your base molding when you did the board and batten. Am I seeing that right? Could you e-mail me or leave me a comment and let me know - also exactly what size wood you used (or MDF). Thanks. I going to buy the supplies in the next couple of days. Thanks so much.-Judy

Found you from Inspired Room and I must say...impressive! Love that hand mixed color and the roman shade. It must be a joy to walk into the house now and see this room, even if it has to do triple duty!

Also I wanted to add, I'm going to post a pic of your laundry room to my blog. jchokie.blogspot.com I really hope that is ok with you as I would love to share your gorgeous laundry room! Please let me know if this is not OK with you and I'll remove it. jchokie79 at gmail dot com. Thanks again!

I love your laundry room makeover! Since I need to do mine, maybe I'll just paint it your color matched shade. Blue is my favorite color anyway! I'm envious that you have a window in your laundry room though, LOL!

GOOD GRIEF you are so amazing!!!!! I felt my heart skip a beat when I looked at your entire tutorial!!! I would love to know what name of the paint color is that they come up with!!! So.... in... love... with it! You should definitely feel proud of this beauty! FYI, staple guns are scary. (new follower as of today!)

looks beautiful! I love the Ball Jar idea for the fabric softener sheets etc...I had just bought some of those jars off Etsy, really not knowing what I'd do with them yet....we're about to move into a new house. So, you inspired me! glad to have found your blog...i have one here, if you care to following along too:http://jvwhome.blogspot.com

I promise to write new posts about our new house and the ideas we've created, after we finish our move!Happy Mom's Day..

Wow! Love the light fixture in white! It looks so cute in your laundry room :) I guess for now mine will have to stay the old way...if I told the Mr. to take it down so I could paint it, he'd kill me LOL! Thanks for sharing this with me Cindy.Becky CBuckets of Burlap

Oh my! I love this laundry room. I'd give anything for a room like this. Love the color. I'm thinking of painting my bedroom this color. But I love everything you did in here....especially painting that light fixture. I've seen that fixture at Lowe's and admired it except for the color. The board and batten wall looks so great too. Fantastic job you did. Thanks so much for linking up at my Mod Mix Monday!

This room looks so great. I wish I wasn't so afraid of color. I love the rooms in my house that are colorful but the owner we are renting from is the one who painted them. Seriously everything in the room looks great!

Hi! Just wanted to let you know that I found a picture of your laundry room re-do on Pinterest and it totally inspired me. I have already completed my laundry room makeover with board & batten and new paint. I couldn't wait! Now I just need to take some time to find the perfect decor accents.Thanks for the inspiration :)Kyla

I found your laundry room Pinterest. I love, love, love it!! I was just at Home Depot yesterday trying to march the paint color using the picture of your room on my phone. Glad I checked the blog today and see you did a color match! I am heading back to Home Depot tomorrow to get the right color. I am so excited!! I think our laundry space is exactly the same. I hope I my redo turns out as beautiful as yours!

I am looking all over for a chandalier like this for my dining room. I am basing my entire kitchen design of the home we're building, on your laundry room! I found the picture on pintrest. If you don't mind sharing with me where I might find this type of chandelier, you can email me at westernwarmth (at) gmail. Thanks!

Found you on Pinterest! LOVE your laundry room! Thanks you for sharing! My husband is on his way to Home Depot right now for a paint sample! Where did you get the chandelier?! Looks like your from Michigan! we're in Oxford :)

Ok ... I'm confused on the paint. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it and am just about to paint my laundry. Do I go to Home Depot and show them this Behr label and that will be the color or do I have to add the Americana paint to it or do I just buy the color that is on the paint chip card? Thanks!

I LOVE this laundry room! So much so - my husband and I just finished redoing ours to look exactly like this. I call it our "project room". This was the smallest room in the house to revamp and everything had to be done. New flooring, new door, doorjamb, trim, cabinet hardware, painting (both cabinet & walls), new baseboards, shelving and of course the beautiful board & batten. Im still trying to find the perfect light fixture. I figured if we can do it in this room and have it come out good - then we can start tackling larger rooms in the house. It came out FANTASTIC! THANK YOU so much for sharing your beautiful laundry room! What an inspiration this has been.

Great post. I was checking continuously this blog and I'm impressed! Very helpful info particularly the last part :) I care for such information a lot. I was looking for this particular information for a long time. Thank you and best of luck.Joker Machine BREATHER FOR H-D KIT 10990

As you have heard so many times over - "awesome job!". I am in search for the chandelier and do not see it available on Lowes website. What is the brand/maker of the chandelier? This might help me, thanks! amato95918@sbcglobal.net

I think the chandelier was made specifically for Lowe's, it's sort of a copy of some more expensive ones I've seen in other places. I bought one very similar, because the Portfolio Ella model at Lowe's is discontinued by them. I found one by browsing the chandeliers at build.com. Found one with bowl and one without. I bought the one without. The one with, which is very similar to this one, if not exactly like it, is almost $400. There is a larger version of the one here still online at Lowe's, I believe it's a 6 light version.

and by the way, I saw this on Pinterest on Friday, painted and put in new flooring on Saturday and Sunday -- and now my laundry room/pantry has been renovated -- new built-in white pantry shelves, aqua walls, awaiting chandelier. I won't do fancier decorative stuff like roman shade, just a white wooden slat blind. My room is at least 2 times this size, with the window in the pantry area not the laundry, and it can't be as pristine with full floor to ceiling shelves, but it sure looks prettier than it did!

Similar, if not identical style chandelier, savoy house brand savoy-house-1-4505-4-crystal-6-light-mini-chandelier

Do a google search for it. I don't want to insert link from store, don't want to do something I shouldn't. I compared pics of it side by side with this blogger's repainted one that has been discontinued from Lowes.

Wow it's beautiful!! My laundry room is similar to yours. I can't wait to try this! Thanks for sharing all the details. I was trying to match the color with my color chart and I wasn't quite there. Now I can get pretty much the same color! Thanks again and I'll let you know how it goes :)Mary Ellen

Wow it's beautiful!! My laundry room is similar to yours. I can't wait to try this! Thanks for sharing all the details. I was trying to match the color with my color chart and I wasn't quite there. Now I can get pretty much the same color! Thanks again and I'll let you know how it goes :)Mary Ellen

Actually, no it is not available at Lowes, though it still shows up there. Not even for truck or home delivery (I tried, even called corporate offices) I did find an exact style and provided links. Though, since my fixture hangs over the laundry room fridge, I couldn't keep it, I returned it because everyeone would have bumped their head on it getting a drink at parties from the drinks fridge. And making those crystals in a circle would have been a nightmare anyway! But build.com has this same fixture. Lowes doesn't (as of May 20, 2012)

So So So excited about finding your cute blog on Pinterest. Someone pinned your laundry room and I am looking to redo my laundry room and the blue you used is the exact color I am looking for! Thank you for inspiring me and I would like to repost your post on my blog to give you credit for my inspiration!

This is gorgeous! my mom was totally inspired by your post, and used it as inspiration for her laundry room makeover! I've posted photos here: http://www.raisingmemories.com/2012/06/laundry-room-makeover.html Thanks for sharing this! :)

Love, love, love it. I am going to paint my laundry room a similar color and have a happy place to do my laundry too. I always wanted this color in my home, but couldn't figure out where. Thanks for the inspiration.

Thank you for taking the time to color match that paint. I am in LOVE with the color. I found you on a Pinterest board and clicked into your photo hoping it wasn't a custom color. I use Behr paint and will be able to hopefully convince the hubby that we need to re-do our laundry room. Ours is currently lime green with black & white flooring and accents. Perhaps if I promise to do it myself? ;)

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Thanks, Cindy (from a fellow Cindy)! When I came across photos of your laundry room on Pinterest, I fell in love with the paint color for my own laundry room. Thank you a thousand times over for sharing your beautiful creation.

Hi, I am in love with your Laundry Room. I went to Home Depot to get the paint but was told the info on the color match is no longer valid. Something about the base color has changed since 2-2011. I was pretty bummed. I was wondering if you could tell me which color is the closest between the Behr's Rivers Edge or Americana Spa blue? Or if you ever did a color match with any other brand? Any info would be greatly appreciated. Your Redo ROCKS!! Thanks -Gail

Oh my gosh.....I couldn't decide what color to paint my laundry room. A friend found a picture of your laundry room pinned on Pinterest. She showed it to me. LOVE at first sight. I am an excellent detective and thru just clicking away I was able to finally find your site. I printed out the info for my contractor and he went to Sherwin Williams and they knew exactly the color we wanted. Had it made up and the paint is drying. LOVE LOVE LOVE it! Your room is gorgeous and much bigger than mine so I can't be as creative but still love it all the same. THANK YOU!!!!

I was looking for storage ideas on HOUZZ for my small laundry room, and when I came across your picture I just loved what you did. My husband probably would not like the light fixture, but it certainly makes the room!! Good job ;)

I did something similar to your washroom. I think mine space is smaller than yours I had mine painted by a pro because I was getting other rooms painted I have a door leading to a small patio where you have a window I used Benjamin Moore paint. Blue) no shelf, no cabinet. I have a hanging rod and shutter doors leading into the Kitchen.would love a cabinet and to add wains codeing

About Me

I am mama of two, a nonna of two and a wife to my adorable hubby. I am also a budding photographer who sees life through the lens of a camera. I am constantly on the lookout for a new photoshoot site and love taking natural light photos for my sweet families.... I have recently started repainting thrift store and discarded furniture and bringing it back to life.